Pride of place has always been the gyr falcon although I confess to not having seen one in this country.

On the several expeditions to Iceland I led for the Brathay Exploration Group, just occasionally I would see one of these magnificent birds of prey.

On a separate visit to Iceland, I was helping out on a survey of breeding pink-footed geese and in one valley I was told to go and look at a gyr falcon's nest. I recall with bated breath climbing up to the site after seeing one of the falcons some distance away from the nest site. As I eased myself over the cliff ledge, a pink-footed goose flew from the nest and I could feel the rush of the wings. How I did not fall off that cliff face, I still wonder.

One incident always sticks in my mind as it involved another favourite bird of mine and that was to see a gyr falcon take a puffin in flight along the south-east coast of Iceland.

Closer to home, there are the obvious favourites such as golden eagle, perhaps replaced these days in my mind by the sea eagle.

At the other end of the scale are much commoner ones and one of these is, perhaps surprisingly, the moorhen. I am not sure what the attraction is but perhaps in part it is the fact that it always seems to be incongruous.

To start with, it has the most outrageous looking legs, long, green and somewhat ungainly in appearance. The feet are large and almost spidery until you see one walking on water lily pads and they seem to take on a grace of their own. The plumage is rather drab looking, offset by the vivid white line of feathers along its flanks. This seems to separate rather nicely the grey underparts from the brownish upperparts, although this colour is only seen close to and in good light. The beak even looks out of place as it is bright red with a marked yellow tip as if it is solely there to make its visible mark.

The red "shield like" area on its forehead makes this part of the bird even more conspicuous. Perhaps this small riot of colour is there as a means of making sure other birds see them in the shaded parts of its haunts such as reed beds or clumps of rushes.

The latest "bible" for birdwatchers, the two volumes of The Birds Of Scotland published in 2007, show its distribution in the Highlands. The "core" areas where the birds have the highest density are not in the Highlands. Instead, in the area there are places where they "regularly breed" such as around Inverness and along the north coast and, interestingly, on the western coasts of the Western Isles particularly the Uists.

The moorhen's rather odd appearance makes it seem incongruous.

I have certainly seen moorhens in some of these areas, such as Loch Flemington to the east of Inverness. They also breed in the famous "kettle" holes that are glacial relics around Muir of Ord.

However, I have also seen them in other areas outwith this accepted range. For example, they used to, probably still do, breed on a reed-fringed lochan on the side of the road just north of Lochinver. In another area, I have seen them on a small loch near Strontian that I used to visit because it was rich in dragonfly species.

Although moorhens can be secretive, in the right circumstances they can easily be seen, such as when they are on open water or swimming from one reed bed to another. The fact that they are easily overlooked is indicated by a pair that nested for some years in a tiny pond in our strath. I doubt whether other people ever saw them there as a quick glance would reveal no sign of their presence.

Unfortunately, these days the cards are stacked against them predator wise. Nesting in reeds and other marginal vegetation, they can fall foul of numerous predators. Otters, mink, pine martens and foxes take them and their eggs, as do birds such as carrion and hooded crows.

The only consolation is that in the right conditions they can have two or even three broods each year. Moorhens are very sedentary, although there are records of birds moving to Scotland from Europe in some years. However, the recent severe weather must have meant that many birds in inland lochs and lochans might have moved, perhaps to the coasts.

* The bird of the week came from the reports of birds in gardens but this time from much further south. Apparently, increasingly down south lesser redpolls are visiting gardens and have seemingly now chosen their favourite food of kibbled sunflower hearts. They do use peanuts but the new choice seems to really attract them. Once again I will try this in the garden to see if I can pull them in.

The reason for mentioning this is to plead once again for records of this attractive tiny bird coming to feeders in the Highlands. At the last request a few readers contacted me about seeing them in their gardens, but not coming to any feeders. Surely it can only be time before they are added to the already rich bird list coming to gardens in the Highlands.

Please email any records to rvc@tesco.net to see if we can establish, or otherwise, that they are actually coming in.

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